7 sneaky ways to incorporate bone broth into your diet
Becca Crawford
Health is never about one thing but I must say that bone broth had a profound impact on my health. In fact I would go so far as to say that it radically changed my life. It wasn’t until I started drinking 1 cup of bone broth every day in 2007 (when my naturopath first introduced me to ancestral diets) that all my osteo-skeletal issues vanished and I (finally) stopped breaking bones. My skin started glowing (hence why I later coined the phrase “bone is my Botox”), my period returned, and I started feeling more vital, robust and resilient from colds and other illnesses.
What’s so good about bone broth?
As the age-old elixir of health consumed in traditional societies the world over, bone broth (aka stock) has a myriad of health benefits which I detail at length in my online bone broth workshop which is included in my Food as Medicine digital package. Bone broth from wild or pastured animals is a rich source of:
A) collagen (the primary structural element of our hair, skin, nails, and osteo skeletal system),
B) gelatin (for robust digestion, gut healing & sealing, and promotes regularity), and
C) glycine (balancer of muscle meat, powerful detoxifier, and emotional stabilizer).
7 sneaky ways…
Most people (young and old) absolutely love the delicious flavour that a warming cup of bone broth imparts (especially when infused with a squeeze of lemon juice!). In fact, when you introduce broth to babies (from around 8 months of age) the feedback I get from mums is how their children absolutely love it. Children instinctively know what is good for them. However, if you have young kids who fuss about broth or even if you just want to find more ways to include broth into your and your family’s diet for a powerful nutritional and flavoursome boost, here are my 7 favourite ways:
1. Use broth as a base to soups instead of water. All of our artisan soups made at Broth Bar & Larder (sold via our online store) are broth-based.
2. Use broth as a base to casseroles/ stews instead of water. Learn how to make your own casseroles in my online slow cook workshop (sold individually or included in my Food as Medicine digital package).
3. Add cold/frozen beef broth into smoothies. Frozen broth is tasteless - meaning you get all of the goodness without any change in flavour. We freeze our beef broth into silicon ice-cube trays for you to keep in your freezer to conveniently add into smoothies. We have 3 frozen beef broth cubes options on our online store that are perfect for smoothies:
> our original beef broth cubes
> our beef broth & spinach cubes (we add 2 of these cubes into our smoothies at Broth Bar & Larder)
> our beef broth & liver cubes (we add 1 of these cubes into our smoothies at Broth Bar & Larder)
4. Use broth to cook rice instead of water (soak 1 cup rice in water overnight, strain, rinse and cook in saucepan with 2 cups of broth until broth is absorbed). You might like to try my veggie packed fried rice recipe (it’s such a winner with kids!).
5. Add a splash of broth to the bottom of a saucepan instead of water when reheating leftover food to prevent food from sticking to the pot. As a traditional wholefoodie I always prefer stovetop cooking over microwave ovens to reheat food.
6. Add a splash of bone broth when sautéing veggies (such as silverbeet or rainbow chard) to prevent them from drying out and to keep them moist. I love adding it to my “green medley” (sauté diced garlic in butter until tender then add silverbeet, peas, broccoli florets and matchstick zucchini, a splash of bone broth and sautee on low heat, stirring occasionally, until tender. Season and serve as a side).
7. use broth to poach eggs instead of water. Pour bone broth into a small saucepan and heat gently, crack in eggs and when the whites turn from translucent to opaque they are ready! Do not let the broth boil. Pour the eggs and broth mixture into a bowl and add flavour bombs as desired eg tamari, nori seaweed flakes, chili, minced ginger, minced garlic, Red Board fish sauce, Yuzu Japanese sesame sprinkles and coriander leaves for an Asian Broth Breakfast Bowl. For a more complete meal, cook leafy greens, broccolini or thinly sliced mushrooms in the bone broth until just tender before adding in the eggs to poach.
NOTE!!! Not all broth is created equal!!!
Like all food, not all bone broth is created equal!! The source of the bones and other ingredients, the quality of the water used, and the way it’s made, and how it is packaged all profoundly impact its nutritional value, our health and the planet’s health. Here’s what makes our broth unique in the Australian marketplace:
How to purchase
Purchase our chicken, beef, wild fish and vegan broth from Broth Bar & Larder in Bronte or via our online store.
Learn how to make your own!
In my online bone broth workshop you can learn how to make your own gelatinous bone broth, broth based soups and contains answers to my most asked broth FAQs. It is sold individually or it is included with ALL 5 of my online cooking classes in my Food as Medicine digital package (which is by far the best value). All my 5 cooking workshops come with lifetime access to a video and workshop booklet containing comprehensive nutritional theory, recipes and practical how to.
Love Soulla xx
